K is an American company in the automotive spray gun industry, and its "DEVILBISS" brand spray guns are well-known in China. Because of high reputation of DEVILBISS products, many competitors in China free ride its famous brand to make illegal profits. Therefore, K entrusted Chang Tsi & Partners (hereinafter referred to “Chang Tsi”) to protect its intellectual property rights in China.

In 2016, Chang Tsi represented K in filing a civil lawsuit against a Chinese company X for trademark infringement. The Guangzhou City Baiyun District Court ruled that X should stop infringement and compensate CNY 1 million to K. X did not agree with the judgment and started a series of countermeasures, including filing civil appeal, applying for cancellation on “DEVILBISS” trademark registration and filing administrative litigations. At the end of October 2023, the Guangdong High Court issued a civil retrial judgment, ruling that X shall stop infringement and pay damages of CNY 1 million to K. After seven years, the series of cases have a final result, and Chang Tsi has successfully protected K’s trademark rights.

This series of cases is like a long novel, with constant shifts in attack and defense. During the long process, there were constant accidents and thrills, which particularly tested attorney's psychological quality and ability to withstand stress. In December 2016, X applied for cancellation of DEVILBISS trademark. In August 2017, the Trademark Office made a decision favorable to K, but what is surprising is that in November 2018, the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board decided to cancel the "DEVILBISS" trademark. 

In order to fight back, Chang Tsi represented K to file administrative litigation to request the court to dismiss the decision in January 2019. As K is an American company, the entrusted materials shall be legalized and notarized before they can be used in China, and the legalization and notarization took months to complete. Although the case-filing department in court had approved K’s application for extension of material-submission period, X raised opposition in open session. To K’s surprise, Beijing IP Court dismissed K’s claims directly. After that, Chang Tsi represented K to file appeal to Beijing High Court. Chang Tsi put all of the efforts in appeal and the court finally sent back the case to Beijing IP Court for rehearing. The administrative litigation finally entered the physical trial.

Watching back to the whole process, Chang Tsi experienced the difficulties in trademark enforcement. Chang Tsi withstood the great pressures to fight with the infringer step by step. Finally, Chang Tsi obtained the final victory for K after 7 years. Although K had a long road to safeguard its trademark rights, and the infringer stubbornly resisted and fought hard, K won the final victory and its trademark rights were protected, which effectively supported its business interests in China